Veterans For America

*For more information or interviews, please contact Adrienne Willis, Director of Communications, at 917-359-8543 or by email at awillis@veteransforamerica.org

For Immediate Release

Washington, DC, March 12 – First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, today sends a powerful message that the new administration will be paying attention to the growing and dire needs weighing on our service members and their families. The strains of multiple tours, heavy fighting and too little rest are shredding our military’s readiness and straining even the bonds of marriage among military families.

Fort Bragg’s famed 82nd Airborne Division, whose 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) is slated to start its fifth combat tour soon — with only scant months’ rest between deployments. The previous Iraq tour of the Divisions’ 3rd BCT was the most deadly in Operation Iraqi Freedom for the entire 82nd Airborne, and the BCT is already deployed again to Iraq. The 4th BCT is slated to deploy for Iraq this summer, having just finished a 15-month tour last year.  And the 82nd’s other BCT, the 2nd, is on call for all of 2009, ready for deployment anywhere in the world at anytime within 18 hours notice.

Our wars have placed incredible stress on our troops, reflected in soaring rates of post-traumatic stress and suicide. Fort Bragg is not the only installation where grim statistics of service and strain are mounting. Like other bases, there have been the all too sad cases of battle-weary troops returning home and failing to adjust, committing violence, succumbing to addiction or suicide.

Veterans for America (VFA) applauds President Barack Obama for committing to giving our troops more rest between deployments and looks forward to working with the administration to make sure our weary troops receive the relief they deserve. Michelle Obama’s visit is a positive sign of what we hope is to come: more relief and care for our battle-weary troops.